Automatic door-operating means



J. C. BERGEN.

AUTOMATIC DOOR OPERATING MEANS.

. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I5. I9I9. 1,388,400. Patented Aug.'23, 1921. SHEETS-SHEET I.

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AUTOMATIC DOOR OPERATING MEANS.

APPLIc/mon mm sEPT. 15. 1919.

1,388,400. Patented Aug. 23, 1921.

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AUTOMATIC DOOR OPERATING MEANS.l

APPLICATION min sPT.15,1919.

1,388,400.' l Pawnmug. 23,1921.

ISHEETS-SHEET 3.

J. C. BERGEN.

AUTOMATIC DOOR OPERATING MEANS.

l APPLICAUON FLED SEPT-15| 1919- 1,388,400. Patented Aug. 23, 1921.

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APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 15. 1919.

1,388,400. Patented Aug. 23, "1921.

7 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

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AUTOMATIC DOOR OPERATING MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 15, |919.

1,388,400, I Patented Aug. 23,1921.

7 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

MUM/NEX I. C. BERGEN.

AUTOMATIC DOOR OPERATING MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I5, 1919.

1,388,400, Patented Aug. 23, 1921.

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J O15/@HGM 7% m FFH @M w M OGTTUWEY UNITED STATES JOSEPH C. BERGEN, OF DAVENPORT, IOWA.

AUTOMATIC DOOR-OPERATIN G MEANS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 23, 1921.

Application filed September 15, 1919. Serial No. 323,932.

To all whom it may concern:

Bc it known that I, JOSEPH C. BERGEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Davenport, in the county of Scott and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Automatic Door-Operating Means, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to automatic means for operating doors, one of its objects being to provide apparatus adapted to be actuated by a vehicle approaching the door at one side and leaving it at the other side so as tol successively open the door and then close it.

Another object is to provide mechanism of this character which utilizes spring operated means adapted to be placed under compression by the vehicle and which will subsequently be released so that the expansion of the spring will result in the door being shifted either to open or to closed position.

Another object is to provide locking means for holding the door in either of its positions until the spring is placed under proper compression whereupon it will be automatically unlocked to allow the operating spring to expand and move the door.

Vith the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that, within the scope of what is claimed, changes in the precise embodiment of the invention shown can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a door having the present improvements combined therewith one of the positions of the door being indicated by dotted lines.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the door and showing the operating mechanism in 1an.

iig. 3 vis aside elevation of the operating mechanism connected to the door.

Fig. 4 is a detail view of the housing of the actuating spring.

Fig. 5 is an end view thereof.

Fig. 6 is a view of the other end of the said housing. l

Fig. 7 is an elevation of one of the pistons adapted to fwork within the housing.y

Fig. 8 is a section therethrough.

Fig. 9 is an elevation of one of the connecting rods.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of one of the slidable lock actuating brackets.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of one of the door catches.

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of a keeper for use in connection with the catch.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of one of the operating blocks.

Fig. 14 is a plan view of one of the cranks operating in connection therewith.

Fig. 15 is a side elevation of Said crank.

Fig. 16 is a perspective view of a roller such as used in connection with one of the door latches.

Fig. 17 is a section through the door and showing a modified means for operating it.

Fig. 18 is a side elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 17.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference A designates a portion of a building structure to which is movably connected a sliding door B. This door may be supported in any desired manner, it being preferably provided with hangers 34 movable along a rail 35. Secured to the upper portion of the door or at anyother desired point thereon is a guide plate 52 having openings 41 therein for the reception of bolts or the like whereby the plate may be securely fastened to the door. This plateiis provided with a longitudinally extending dovetailed groove 48 and extending upwardly from one corner of the plate and downwardly from the opposed corner at the other end of the plate is a guide ear 53. Each of these ears has an opening 22 therein.

Intersecting the dovetailed groove 48 is the base 54 of a housing or drum 55 the heads of which are provided with openings 42, one of these openings being disposed above the longitudinal center of the drum while the other is disposed below the longitudinal center as will be apparent by referring to Figs. 5 and 6.y y In the end portions of this housing or drum are movably mounted pistons or disks 56 each of which has an annular ange as shown in Fig. 8 at 57 and has aneccentrically disposed depression 58 provided with an opening 44 in the center thereof. An aperture 43 is formed in the piston 56. The two pistons form oppositely disposed cups in Vwhich are seated the ends ofv a strong coiled spring 18 located within the housing 55. Extending through this spring are oppositely disposed stems 59 each of which has a threaded extension 47 secured within one of the openings 44 by means of a nut or the like, not shown, and which is adapted to be seated in the depression 58. The stem secured to one disk is adapted to slide within the opening 43 vin the opposed disk and one of the stems projects through one of the openings 42 while the other stem projects through the other opening 42. Thus the two stems will lie parallel and when either stem is pulled longitudinally away from the housing 55 the piston 56 attached thereto will tend to compress the spring 18 against the other piston 56 within the housing.

A series of openings 45 is formed in each of the stems 59 and mounted on this apertured portion of each stem is a bracket 60 shown in detail in Fig. 10. The said bracket has a `base 49 adapted to slide within the dovetailed groove 48 and has an opening 32 extending longitudinally through `the bracket for the reception of the stem 59. A suitable fastening pin is adapted to be inserted through an opening 19 in the bracket and .through one of the openings 45 so as to fasten the stem 59 to the bracket 60. An arm 61 is extended from the bracket and has an opening 20 therein adjacent its free end. Thus it will be noted that one of these arms 61 is located adjacent each end of the housing 55, one of the arms extending upwardly While the other arm is extended downwardly as shown in Fig. 1.

Pivotally connected to the door B adjacent each end thereof is a latch 62 in the form of a bell crank lever, said lever having a V-shaped head 63 at the free end of one of its arms. This head is provided with side wings or flanges 64 between which is journaled an anti-friction roller or disk 66 held in place by a bearing 10 seated in openings 29. The free end of the other arm of the bell crank 62 is forked and is pivotally connected, as at 23, to one end of a rod 21. This rod is preferably formed of two sections adjustably connected by a turn buckle 51, one of the sections being slidable within one ofthe guides ears 53 while the other section is slidable within the opening 20 in one ofthe arms 61. Ahead 32 is provided on rthe free end of the rod and is adapted, when Y the armgl fis pulled a predetermined distance away from the housing 55, to be engaged by :the arm 61 so yas to shift the rod 21 `longitudinally and actuate lthe latch.

- The disk on the latch is adapted to be seated within a recess 30 vformed within a block .30 .constitutingl a keeper, this block being ysecured to the structure A. adjacent one endl of the path of fmovementof the door. Ob- Yvliously two ofthe blocks are provided, one foreach of the latches. Stops vor abutments -other pulley 13.

to which is connected a disk 7.

'stems' 59 is a flexible actuating element 12 Ywhich can be in the form of a rope, chain or the like. This element is extended -under a pulley 17 supported adjacent the end of the path of movement of the door B and thence. over a pulley 16. From the pulley 16 the element 12 is extended downwardly under a pulley 13 and thence outwardly away from the door to the upwardly extending arm 11 of a crank shaft 9. A forked arm is extended from the other end of the shaft and carries an anti-friction roller 7. This roller 7 and the arm 8 carrying it project into the bottom portion of a hollow actuating' slot 1 which is hingedly connected to the floor or approach C leading to the door B, as shown at 6. A suitable bearing 50'may be provided under this fioor or approach in which lthe shaft 9 is j ournaled.

Another cable, chain or other flexible connection 12 is secured to the element 12 at a point between the pulleys 17 and 16 and is extended upwardly over a pulley 33 secured to the structure A. y This connection 12 then extends through the structure A, .partly around another guide pulley 3 3, thence downwardly over a pulley 13 and under an- From this last named pulley the connection 12 is extended away from the door B to a crank arm 11 extending from a crank shaft 9. TheY shaft is journaled in a bearing 50 and has another arm 8 This disk projects Vinto a hollow operating block 4 movably mounted within the approach leading to the door from the opposite side thereof, the hinge being indicated at 6.

The other vstem '59 has a suitable flexible actuating element 12FL attached to it, the same passing under a pulley 17 and `over a pulley 16 located adjacent thc other limit ofmovement of the door B. Fromthe pulley 16 the .element 12a is extended downwardly under 4block is Ahingedly mounted within the approach C, its hinge being indicated at 6.

Secured to the velement 12a at a point between the pulleys 17 and 16, isanother flexible element 12b which .extends through vrthe structure A after passing over the pulley 33a. The element 12b is then extended partly door opening and .over agpulley 14 and i 2goY around a pulley 15 and inwardly toward the thence downwardly to a pulley 14a from which the element extends to the arm 11b of a crank shaft 9b which is journaled in a bearing 50b arranged under the approach C leading to the door. Another arm 8b extends from the crank shaft 9b and carries an anti-friction roller 7b which extends into the hollow operating block 3 which is movably mounted in the approach C and is connected thereto by a hinge, as shown at 6. It will be noted that the operating blocks 2 and 3 are located in line but at opposite sides of the door and are nearer the door than are the blocks 1 and 4 which are also located in line and at opposite sides of the door. All of the blocks are provided, along their lower edges, with stop flanges 5 adapted to come against the bottom of the runway to limit the upward movement of the blocks.

Assuming that the door is shut, as shown in Fig. 1 and the latch at the left of the door is in engagement with its keeper 30, when a vehicle approaches the door one of the left v wheels will move onto the block 3 located,

' downwardly.

outside of the structure and will thrust it This will cause the shaft 9b to rotate and to pull, through arm 11b, upon the flexible element 12b. Thus the element 12b will be pulled upwardly between the pulleys 17 and 16 and will be caused to pull longitudinally on the stem 59 to which it is attached. As the door is held closed by the latch 62-at the other side thereof, and the vhousing 55 is fastened to the door, it will be apparent that this pulling on thev stem 59 will result in compression of the spring 18 between the moving piston 56 and the stationary piston 56.' This compression of the spring will continue until the arm 61, which moves with the stem 59, comes against the head 32 in the' path thereof whereupon the rod 21 will actuate the latch 62 and release it from its keeper. As'soon as this is done the compressed spring will be released and will promptly expand, thrusting against the shifted piston .56 and driving the door away from its closed position to its open position. As soon as it reaches the limit of this movement the other latch on the door will engage its keeper 30 so that the door will be locked in open position. Obviously when the block 3 is depressed, the block 2 is raised. But, when the door moves to open position its flexible operating element 12a becomes flat, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, thereby allowing the block 2 to gravitate to a position flush with the approach C. During the movement of the door to its open position it will pull on the element 12 with the result that the block 1 will be raised. Thus as the vehicle passes through the door opening and away from the structure A, one of its wheels can be caused to move onto the block 1 so as to depress it. This will cause the connection 12 to be pulled longitudinally so as te again place the spring 18 under compression until the upwardly extending arm 51 comes against the head 32 in the path thereof whereupon the latch 62 which is holding the door open, will be'released and the spring allowed to expand so as to propel the door to its closed position where it will be automatically locked. Obviously the operation of the parts will be the same when the vehicle approaches the door from the opposite direction, the door in every instance automatically unlocking and opening and then automatically closing and locking.

By means of the series of openings 45 the arms 61 can be adjusted along the stems so as to cause the door to be released after any predetermined degree of compression of the spring 18 has been effected.

Instead of operating the door by means of vehicle rolling over operating blocks in the approach to the door, an arrangement of horizontally swinging levers can be substituted for the respective blocks as shown in Figs. 17 and 18. When a vehicle approaches the door or moves away from it, the wheels thereof can be caused to move against selected levers 36 so as to swing them laterally and cause them to operate the flexible elements and the other parts of the door operating mechanism so as to open and close the door in the manner hereinbefore pointed out. It is thought that this modified arrangement will be apparent by referring to Figs. 17 and 18. Each of the levers 36 is `preferably mounted on a post 37 and swings about a pivot bolt 38. A stop projection 39 is provided on each post for limiting the swinging movement of the lever.

What is claimed is 1. In apparatus of the class described the combination with a building structure and a slidable door-movable relative thereto, of a spring movable with the door, latches carried by the door for holding the vsame in either open or closed position, vehicle operated means for placing the spring under compression while the door is held in either open or closed position, and means operated by the compression of the spring to a predetermined extent for unlocking the door, said spring constituting means, when expanded, for projecting the door from one extreme position to the other.

2. The combination with a structure and a door` slidable relative thereto, of latches carried by the door, means coperating with the latches for securing the door in either open or closed position, a spring movable with the door, opposed pistons having the spring interposed between them, means operated by a vehicle approaching the door for shifting one of the pistons to compress the spring against the other piston, and means operated by the movement of the piston a predetermined distance for unlatching the door, the said spring constituting means for propelling the door, when unlatched, from one eXtreme p0- sition to the other.

3. The combination with a structure and a door slidable relative thereto, of a housing secured to the door, opposed pistons movable within the housing, a spring interposed between the pistons, latches for holding the door in either open or closed position, means operated by a vehicle approaching or leaving the door for shifting one of the pistons to compress the spring against the opposed piston, and means operated by the movement of said shifted piston apredetermined distance for unlatchin the door, said spring constituting means or propelling the door, when unlatched, from one extreme position to the other.

4. The combination with a structure and a doorl slidable relativethereto, of a housing secured to the door, opposed pistons movably mounted within the housing, a spring interposed between the pistons, latches connected to opposed portions of the door, for holding the door in either extreme position, operating rods connected to the respective latches and having heads upon the free ends thereof, means movable withl the respective pistons and along the rods into engagement with the respective heads, and means operated by a vehicle approaching or leaving the door foractuating oneof the pistons to compress the spring and subsequently to unlatch the door, said spring constituting means for propelling the'door, when unlatched, from one eXtreme position to the other.

5. The combination with a structure and a door slidable relative thereto, 'of a housing movable with the door, opposed pistons therein, a spring interposed between the pistons, stems projecting in opposite directions from the pistons, the stem on each piston being slidable within the opposed piston and within one end of the housing, said stems projecting through the spring, means for holding the door at either limit of its movement, Aand means operated by a vehicle approaching or leaving the door for successively shifting one of the pistons to compress the spring, and for unlatching the door after the spring has been compressed, said spring constituting means, when the door is unlatched, for propelling the door from onelextreme position to the other.

6. The combination with a structure. and `a door slidable relative thereto, of La housing movable with the door, opposed pistonsmovable in the housing, a spring interposed between the pistons, means for locking the door in either of its extreme positions, separate means at each side of the door for operation by a vehicle approaching or leaving the door for successively compressing the spring vbemeans, when the door is unlatched, for propelling the door from one extremepositi'on to the other.

`tween the pistons and unlatching the door, .said compression of the spring constituting 7. The combination with a structure and a Y door slidable relative thereto, of a housing secured to the door, latches for holding the door in either open or closed position, operating rods connected to the respective latches and having heads thereon, opposed pistons within the housing, a spring interposed between the pistons, stems secured to the respective pistons, the stem on each pistonibeing slidable within the opposed piston, means adjustably connected to each stem for slid-r my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JUSEPH C. BERGEN.

Witnesses:

SAM. H. ERWIN, ELIZABETH DE WULF. 

